One recent sweltering summer’s day, a tour bus from Tokyo pulled up at a sun-kissed beach at Atami, a Pacific coast resort southwest of the metropolis, and disgorged more than a dozen excited, iPhone-clutching young men.
The determined youngsters, paying scant attention to the bikini-clad girls frolicking on the sand, instead headed straight for a bronze statue that depicts Kanichi and Omiya, a couple from an old love story set in Atami.
The focus of the men’s attention—and of their smartphone cameras—was a tiny black and white square, a two-dimensional barcode that, …

A show of outlandish sculptures by a cult Japanese artist in the historic Chateau of Versailles near Paris has enraged traditionalists who say it dishonours France’s past.
From September 14 to December 12, visitors to Versailles will see eye-grabbing multicoloured statues in silver, fibreglass and metal by Takashi Murakami alongside the chateau’s ornate murals and chandeliers.
"The Chateau de Versailles is one of the greatest symbols of Western history," Murakami said in a statement on the museum’s website.
"The Versailles of my imagination… has become a kind of completely separate and unreal world," …

Gravure idol Yuzuki Aikawa (27) is looking to rejuvenate her career by entering the world of professional wrestling. She held a sudden press conference on Monday to announce that she will make her debut in the ring on October 31 at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.
Aikawa said that she won’t be using her 100cm bust as a weapon, instead planning to show off her taekwondo skills, including her special maneuver "Yuzupon Kick." Aikawa has apparently been undergoing pro wrestling training in an actual ring since May, as well as practicing her …

Jin Akanishi (26) has written a comment on the official Johnny’s mobile site, his first since the news of his expected removal from KAT-TUN. In his message, Akanishi formally announced that he is going solo.

If you happened to see an abundance of ladies dressed in French maid outfits and men rocking furry headdresses in the East Village yesterday, you weren’t suffering from heat stroke-induced hallucinations. The costumed cosplayers were attending JapanTown’s Cool Japan street festival. Yesterday’s festival, the first of three scheduled around the city this summer and fall, focused on the cool aspects of Japanese culture.

The seven members of Berryz Koubou will star in a stage production titled “San Oku En Shoujo,” though they will take turns playing the story’s lead character. The play is described as a love story bridging the past and the present, using the infamous “300 million yen robbery” as its motif.
A promotional flyer for the play was displayed during a press event on Wednesday. The flyer resembles a “wanted suspect” notice and includes a photo of a girl’s face, which is actually a composite using different facial features from each …

Acclaimed playwright Kohei Tsuka passed away on the morning of July 10 at a hospital in Chiba. He was 62.

Tsuka had announced in January that he was diagnosed with lung cancer, and he had been undergoing treatment at the hospital for the past few months. Sources say that Tsuka’s illness turned critical at the start of June.

They not only survived a Japanese game show together, they’re going to collaborate on more of them.
U.S.-based A. Smith & Co. and Japan’s Taiyo Kikaku Co. are joining forces to develop, produce and distribute content for television and other media that will be adapted and expanded to audiences in new marketplaces.
The venture harnesses the success both producing companies experienced through their initial collaboration, ABC’s “I Survived a Japanese Game Show.”
Read the rest of the story: ‘Japanese Game Show’ companies reunite

Three AKB48 members – Yuki Kashiwagi (18), Aki Takajo (18), and Asuka Kuramochi (20) – are forming a new unit called French Kiss. Their debut single, titled “Zutto Mae Kara,” will be released this fall through record label Avex.
“Zutto Mae Kara” will be used as the new ending theme of the ongoing “Major” anime series, beginning with the July 3 episode. That same day, the song will begin digital distribution through various music sites.

An average baby — sort of — since Yotaro is a robot. His inventors hope he will help Japan’s sagging birth rate, among the lowest in the world.

“A robot can’t be human but it’s great if this robot triggers human emotions, so humans want to have their own baby,” said Hiroki Kunimura, the project leader for the Yotaro robot.